Manufacturing particulate food products, such as beads of ice cream has become an increasingly profitable business. However, there can be a wide range in the sizes of frozen ice cream beads. Unfortunately, liquid particles or specks are sometimes released from the trays, which results in the formation of frozen fragments. The fragments are not only undesirable in appearance, but also adversely affect the collection of usable product. Thus, the formation of fragments introduces inefficiency into the process of preparing the frozen beaded ice cream products.
Accordingly, it is desired to eliminate the formation of frozen particulate fragments during product manufacture. Using advanced specialized welding, a structural modification can be made to a feed tray to make the feed tray more easily cleanable, more durable, yet still conform with USDA 3A sanitary requirements.